A small glimpse...⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛A panic attack. Another godforsaken panic attack. It was a good thing that her nominal friend was able to pull her away from the cafe and out onto the back of the establishment. The situaton might have gotten even worse for her if Eremes hadn't done what he did. As she sent her now completed manuscript to her editor, her thoughts went to the last few things she said to her reluctant companion..⬜⬜⬜"I'm fine now." Athena exhaled as she slowly controlled her breath. They were seated at a metal bench at the back parking lot of the Sun and Moon, a few cars in plain view as she rid her eyes of unshed tears. Her gaze lingered across the bland scenery before turning to her companion, instantly noticing his eyes full of concern..Helpless.Of pity.."Are you sur-""I'm fine dammit!" Athena found herself blurting out. She felt a tinge of guilt as she felt the man flinch in surprise to her unwarranted outburst. "I-I mean.."Attention seeker."Athena?"She just co
If one were to ask any person that lived in the City of Midas: 'What's the most decadent venue one could ever use?', some might answer that it would be the Grand Auditorium, located at the 31st floor of the Green Star Hotel. With roughly 7,800 square meters of available space, the floor was constructed with the sole purpose of being if not the grandest function hall in the world, then to be the most opulent one in the country. Boasting a floor covered only with Kashmir carpet, million drachmae chandeliers, and a wide selection of luxury tables, curtains and chairs for any kind of function or event.And now, it's been chosen to become the venue of the largest general auction event in the country.Eremes have only heard of the A3's vaunted extravagance and prestige through the news and some hearsay from former workmates before; tales of never before seen artifacts, ultra-rare collector's items, luxury cars, jewelry, and even deeds for real estate from all over the world, being offered as
Time moves forward...⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛*Brrrrrr*Athena shuddered in her seat as a slight chill suddenly raced down her spine, her back tingling ominously while she was busy working on another chapter on her laptop. Cold? Unlikely, seeing as the novelist was always ready for cold weather; always wearing thick, concealing clothing even indoors. Maybe she cranked up the air conditioning then, she thought as she reached over to the remote to check on the set temperature: still twenty-three degrees Celsius. By this point, the befuddled writer was about to just shrug and continue her work..Only to experience yet another bout of chills travel down her spine.It was stronger this time as Athena tried her best to stop herself from shivering but to no avail; her back recoiling from the uncanny sensation. It was as if a chilling cold finger traced the whole length of her spine. Like someone was trying to creep on her.Disgusting.Maybe someone's thinking about you~Cracking her fingers, the novelist s
Athena craned her neck at the massive signage blaring in front of her, a faint sense of excitement building up for every second that she stared at it. Even living all her life in Midas never let her take for granted the majesty of the big yellow logo plastered on the front of the building in front of her.Saint Midas Mall.As the largest mall in the city and possibly in the country, the SM Mall. as it was locally called, boasted roughly a whopping 200,000 square meters worth of retail and restaurant space split across its three floors. From grocery stores to famous clothing brands, to the latest in cutting edge technology, the mall has a fairly daunting selection of stores and kiosks compared to other malls in Midas. The mall was divided in three different sections: the Hub, The Annex, and Cyberzone. As the Hub suggests in its name, it was located at the center of the mall proper and it's the largest of the three, where most of the general kiosks, groceries, and clothing stores were si
As much as she tried to deny it, the nostalgic novelist truly missed going to this section of Saint Midas; its multiple stores filled to the brim with technology as far as the eye can see. From cellphones to cameras to laptops to PC parts, Cyberzone had it all. Although not as advanced like from those that were found in the capital city, it was already more than enough for most as only the truly tech-savvy even bothered to make the trip up north to Lamina. Athena never really cared much about that life, heck, this was where she bought her current laptop. She didn't need some new cutting edge phone if it would just become obsolete in a year once the phone companies release a newer and better model.Besides, the trip wasn't worth the effort anyway.The broken hinge on your old flip phone suggests otherwise.She got burned the last time she did it. Best stick to the reliable stuff.Holding her breath, Athena felt a sense of trepidation on a level that she hadn't felt in what seemed like f
Sixty seconds of playtime counted down as both characters on the screen sprang to life, quickly establishing space between one another. The movement of both players' sticks were apparent both on the screen and in real life, with both characters weaving in and out of their respective ranges in time with the audible clacks echoing from their hands. Murmurs rang from the crowd, amazement evident from the tone of their hushed voices."Look at that movement. This gon' be a real match!"The fight stick bent to her will as Athena's hand jiggled back and forth, poking and prodding her opponent with each button press of quick jabs and safe moves. Judging from what she observed earlier, Udongein had a tendency to throw out safe jabs and kicks, conditioning the opponent to block whenever he approached followed by an unexpected *unblockable to catch the enemy off gua-*Crash!*Tch- She got careless as Slim's uppercut launched her into the air, guaranteeing almost half of her health to be taken. La
Wasting no time, Athena went for the down kick, making the opponent stagger as he was busy establishing distance.Don't give him an inch!Up forward three.*Crash!*Kunimitsu kneed Doll, launching it into the air. Bread-and-butter combo.It was all coming back to her. She didn't even need to think about the inputs as much anymore.The opponent's health now lied at 40%.The fired-up woman can barely hide the glee that was beginning to show on her face. Her hands felt faster, her eyes now starting to pick up windows of opportunities that weren't apparent to her before. The wooden man on the screen was starting to show caution in its movements, adjusting to the aggressive playstyle that she was now exhibiting. The demon lurched forward, trying to bait out an attack- There!Down three plus four, three, four.*Crash!*The wooden doll's jab whiffed as the katana wielder suddenly sat down before delivering a devastating kick to the chin, launching her opponent high-Forward dash three plus f
"YOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" The crowd exploded upon hearing the revelation about her identity.That's going to come back to you, you know~Athena spared no thought as she let herself be immersed in the game that she once loved. Smiling ear to ear as her hands moved as if it had minds of their own, inputting sequences hard engraved into her muscle memory and applying constant pressure to the slowly falling health bar of her opponent. Sooner or later, he's going to throw a running-Sidestep, down back two.*Crash!*"OHHH!!!!"Too easy. Udongein was getting desperate to try and get some hits in. Too bad she's tilted him enough to make reading his moves as easy as reading an open book."OH! OH! OH! OH! OHHHHH!!!!" The crowd chanted along each landed hit, vigor renewed with the prospect of witnessing high-level gameplay.*K.O!*"That sidestep was sick! Did you see the reads?!" "Tch!" She heard him make a noise as his character landed with a heavy thud on the ground. Haha! How delicious was his suf